Kolkata, July 8 -- West Bengal recorded a decline in dropout rates across preparatory, middle and secondary school levels in 2025-26, according to the latest Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) report released by the Union Ministry of Education. However, the number of schools with zero enrolment continued to increase despite improvements in key student progression indicators.
According to the report, the overall dropout rate at the preparatory level (Classes III to V) declined to 1.4 per cent in 2025-26 from 2.4 per cent in 2024-25. At the middle level (Classes VI to VIII), the dropout rate fell to 1.1 per cent from 3 per cent in 2024-25. Both levels had recorded a zero dropout rate in 2023-24. At the secondary level (Classes IX to XII), the dropout rate dropped sharply to 1.5 per cent from 20.3 per cent in 2024-25. It was 12 per cent in 2023-24.
The state also recorded improvements in transition rates across all levels of schooling. The transition rate from foundational to preparatory education increased to 100 per cent from 99.9 per cent, while the preparatory-to-middle transition rate rose to 99.3 per cent from 98.9 percent. The middle-to-secondary transition rate improved to 95.2 per cent from 91.9 per cent. All three remained above the national averages. Retention rates also improved during the year.
The preparatory-level retention rate increased to 89.7 per cent from 85.3 per cent in 2024-25. At the middle level, it rose to 90.8 per cent from 88.3 per cent, while the secondary-level retention rate increased to 53.6 per cent from 49.7 per cent.
Despite the improvements, the report highlighted persistent structural concerns. The number of schools with zero enrolment rose from 3,254 in 2023-24 to 3,812 in 2024-25 and further to 4,133 in 2025-26. The number of teachers posted in these schools also increased from 14,627 to 17,965 and then to 19,502 over the same period.
Overall student enrolment increased from 1.70 crore in 2024-25 to 1.77 crore in 2025-26. The number of schools declined marginally over the three-year period, while the number of teachers increased from 5.76 lakh in 2023-24 to 5.83 lakh in 2024-25 before declining marginally to 5.82 lakh in 2025-26.
The report also showed that the number of single-teacher schools increased to 6,769 in 2025-26 from 6,482 a year earlier. However, the number of students studying in such schools declined marginally to 2.29 lakh from 2.35 lakh.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.